Ben Johnson

Canadian athlete

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Ben Johnson of Canada sprints to the finish line in world-record time in the 100-m final at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. After steroids were discovered in Johnson’s system, however, his record was rescinded and the gold medal was awarded to the runner-up in the race, American Carl Lewis (third from left).

Gary Hershorn—Reuters/Landov

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Olympic Games

Canadian
Ben Johnson, champion of the 100-metre run, and several weightlifters tested positive for steroid use and were disqualified. In all, 10 athletes were banned from the Games for using performance-enhancing drugs. In the track events the Kenyan men’s team won four of the six distance races. Soviet pole-vaulter Sergey Bubka won his first gold medal. The women’s competition featured...

...put aside the moral outrage that characterizes media coverage of and political commentary on this issue. Media personnel tend to focus on the actions of high-profile stars such as Canadian sprinter
Ben Johnson and Irish swimmer Michelle Smith, whose Olympic gold medals were stripped away (Johnson) or sadly tarnished by the suspicion of drug use (Smith). Whenever a prominent athlete tests...

...Tests for anabolic steroids and other substances improved, but so did doping practices, with the design of new substances often a year or two ahead of the new tests. When 100-metre-sprint champion
Ben Johnson of Canada tested positive for the drug stanozolol at the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, the world was shocked, and the Games themselves were tainted. To more effectively police...

...left to the governing bodies of particular sports. This resulted in the return of tennis, which had been dropped in 1924, to the Games. Table tennis and team archery events were also added. Canadian
Ben Johnson, champion of the 100-metre run, and several weightlifters tested positive for steroid use and were disqualified. In all, 10 athletes were banned from the Games for using...